District Partners with Community to Keep Rural School Open

By Kim Daly, Contributing Writer

Nine miles west of Highway 93 in Golden, nestled in the piney hills off a winding road, students and staff gather on a nearly 11-acre campus with captivating views. According to local history, the first schoolhouse in Coal Creek Canyon existed along this area of Twin Spruce Road in 1890. Over 130 years later, residents of the community faced a significant threat: the potential closure of its local K-8 school. Less than a year later after the local school district partnered with the community, Jefferson Academy Coal Creek Canyon (JACCC) and the families it serves are both excited and hopeful.

Though the school is small by most standards (current enrollment is just 68 students), Ashley Allen, a JACCC parent, says it serves as “more than a place we send our kids to get an education.”

Fellow parent Erik Vance explains. “Living in the mountains is not like living in the flats,” he says. “We're spread out and frequently buried under snow. It's hard to meet your neighbors without a school to bring you together.”

Small School, Big Impact

Tea Wilkens is a homeowner, small business owner, community volunteer, and mother of four young children. She says a closure would have been devastating. The next closest option — Three Creeks K-8  — sits nearly 30 minutes away and is “bursting at the seams,” explains Vance. 

Meanwhile, up the canyon, Jeffco Public Schools cited unsustainably low enrollment when it decided to close Coal Creek Canyon K-8 following the 2023-2024 school year. The community immediately sought alternatives. 

“Closing Coal Creek Canyon K-8 would have had a significant impact on students, families, and the community,” says Carrie Mott, Principal. This includes disrupting students' education and straining families. “Schools often serve as community hubs,” she continues, “and this is especially true in the canyon.” 

Coal Creek is unique in that the rural community encompasses three school districts across Jefferson, Boulder, and Gilpin Counties. Without its own school, families would not only be divided but also burdened with significantly longer commute times, says Allen, commutes that only become longer — and more dangerous — when the snow flies. 

“We all drive down the canyon a few times per week for groceries or Little League agames, but going twice a day just increases the chances something bad could happen,” shares Vance. It’s a sentiment echoed by parent Ronnie Cooper. “I wouldn’t put my son on a bus for an hour each morning and an hour each evening, up and down Highway 72 each day, both because it’s too long and moreover, it’s too risky.”

Creative Solution

Following the district’s decision, a town hall meeting attracted the wider community as well as parents of school-age children. As Jeffco considered options for the property, they “heard very clearly from the community that the school was extremely important to the families in Coal Creek Canyon and beyond,” says Adeeko Tayo, Executive Director of Charter Partnerships at Jeffco Public Schools. 

The district requested letters of interest for the property and ultimately reviewed four submissions. They approved the new charter in January. “We were confident that Jefferson Academy had a viable and forward-looking plan for the school,” says Tayo.

Established in 1994 and one of the oldest charters in Colorado, Jefferson Academy (JA) is well-equipped to serve the unique mountain community. Based on the core knowledge curriculum, the public charter school maintains a PreK-6 elementary campus, a 7-12 secondary campus, and a homeschool enrichment program. 

“The district didn’t have to pursue a charter option for our community,” admits Allen. “But they did, and that says a lot about the district hearing our concerns and thinking creatively about what options would be feasible.” 

With flexibility and accountability on their side, explains Tim Matlick, Executive Director at JA, the charter school was able to custom build a program that served the rural mountain community by including both families that needed a traditional school setting and those needing homeschool enrichment.

“By bringing Coal Creek Canyon into the Jefferson Academy Charter Schools umbrella, the school is able to tap into multiple layers of existing structure and support,” says Matlick. “This includes highly quality professional development, peer support, and a healthy, parent-run board.”

For their part, Jeffco Schools waived the full facility usage fee for 2024-2025 (approximately $200,000) and has offered a reduced fee for the 2025-26 school year if JACCC remains under its enrollment projections. The district also donated all the building’s fixtures, furniture, and equipment, including teacher- and student-facing technology, at no cost. This includes a fully stocked K-8 library, shares Tayo.

As a charter school, JA also had the flexibility to change school start and end times to accommodate mountain families who need extra time many mornings to clear deep snow from long driveways. An Inter-governmental Use Agreement (IGA) with Coal Creek Canyon Parks and Recreation allows for JACCC’s shared use of a turf soccer field and baseball field.

A New Chapter

As is the tradition at the school, each JACCC student participates in age-appropriate outdoor education. This includes “Leave No Trace” principles, safety and survival techniques, plus local flora and fauna studies. On Super Mondays, students from JA’s Summit Academy homeschool programs join JACCC students up the canyon, rotating through enrichment periods. Options include everything from creative drama and nature crafts to ‘kitchen classroom’ and entrepreneurship. 

The conversion from traditional public school to public charter school is an opportunistic one, says Mott, who is excited to grow the school, offer more enrichment programs, and strengthen community bonds. So far, the transition has been smooth. “They have a strong sense of community and the students know what it means to work hard,” she shares.

As a parent, Vance sees opportunity to help support and influence his student’s education with fresh ideas. It’s a goal Mott shares, stating “We want to continue to offer a high-level educational program that aligns with JA’s longstanding mission to help students meet their highest academic and character potential.”

This isn’t the first time a conversion has offered a healthy solution. Georgetown Community School, Merit Academy, and Orton Academy have all resulted from local conversions to a charter model.

As JACCC embarks on this new chapter, the community is filled with optimism. “It's a lifeline,” says Vance. “Nobody said it would be easy — nothing ever is when you live at 8,000 feet  —  but it's a chance. We are so grateful to Jefferson Academy for taking a risk on our quirky little collection of mountain families up here.”

“It was the right thing for our community,” adds Wilkens, “especially for the most important matter … our children.”